From the Editor

The future of farming grabs the spotlight this week in a compelling cover story by News Editor Elizabeth Limbach. As the world ventures forth into this wonderfully unpredictable decade—and advances in modern tech continue to rise—the article explores what future farmers have to face.

But who will the next generation of farmers be? Turn to page 12 and read on. (And for more “farming” fodder, see this week’s A&E story on page 20.) The changing face of farming is certainly good to explore, but now that we’re midway into January, it might be agood idea to take a look around and see if your own life reflects the kinds of changes you crave. Many of us may still be breathing a sigh of relief now that 2012 is behind us, but now that 2013 officially has us in its grip, pondering the future, and how we can all make the best impact on it, wouldn’t hurt. There are several changes happening at GT. For starters, this page gets a new look. Each week, we’ll spotlight the “good” work of locals in the community. And, after the success of our “If We Had Our Way” issue, we’ll venture forth and be highlighting a “good” idea every week; something that could make Santa Cruz County an even better place to live. That’s where you, the reader, come in. We invite you to be part of the discussion. Send us your “good ideas” at [email protected] They may just show up in print. Additionally, if you know of somebody whose presence or work in the area is making a positive difference, let’s celebrate them—email us their name. It’s all “good” as they say. In the meantime, enjoy this week’s issue.

Thanks for reading. More soon …

Greg Archer | Editor-in-Chief

Letters to the Editor

Hope in healingThank you for the article “Healing Historical Wounds” by Patrick Dwire (GT 1/10) about the Catholic Church apologizing for enslaving, beating and exploiting our Native American population here in Santa Cruz more than 200 years ago. I think that it is a good step forward in the right direction for the Catholic Church. I think the next gesture of goodwill and reconciliation for these heinous crimes would be for the Catholic Church to hand over the keys to the church here (built with Indian slave labor on Indian land) and start writing some serious checks for local NativeAmerican scholarships for youth of local tribes. I think that actions speak louder than words in this case. Drew Lewis Santa Cruz

About those guns …Hooray for the John Birch Society and the National Rifle Association (NRA) for demanding that our school teachers be armed to protect our children by using their U.S. Constitutional gun rights and armed guards. If the teachers had been routinely armed in the past decades, it’s obvious that the killings and the casualties would have been reduced by at least 90 percent. However, our leaders and the police wouldn’t allow our teachers to be armed and by doing so they have directly violated our Constitution, that they have sworn to uphold, and facilitated the horrible death and destruction. They should be investigated and prosecuted for such acts against our children. We should support the John Birch Society and the NRA in their efforts to arm our teachers and protect our children, and if the teachers bring their own guns, it will cost nothing. Ed NemecheckSanta Cruz

Don’t feed ‘The Privileged’The cover article you ran last week could best be summed up in a guttural noise resembling a rage scream and an exasperated scoff. It seemed that the whole point of the article was to describe the luxurious lifestyles of those with privilege and power. I don’t care about the opulent lifestyle Oprah Winfrey lives. Her fabulous trip to Hawai’i in the company of other wealthy people does not change the fact that there are children without healthcare. I don’t care about Snatam Kaur. She is just another white person using her proximity to money and the privilege of her skin color to sell whatever spiritual accouterments are popular with other white people, Sat Santokh Singh, not to mention the horribly obvious and grossly oversimplified reference to some vague MIT study about stress. Seriously, it looked like set dressing for some cheesy medical drama. My request is this: please don’t feed the white, privileged, bourgeoisie hippies of this town. There are movements of importance that desperately need coverage.LKBSanta Cruz

Online comments

Regarding “Kundalini Rising,”what it is and what it isn’t can be felt through experience. Please go to a class with a registered kundalini yoga teacher to feel this sacred, safe practice.Japmeet Kaur

On the Watsonville Youth CityCouncil, listening skills are especially important for police officers because communication is fundamental to preventing crime, treating victims and interviewing witnesses/ suspects. Watsonville’s teenagers are probably much more savvy about crime there than its police officers. Listening to the community, especially teenagers, is key for any police department to be successful in deterring crime. It is also important to respect a community to effectively police it. Listening is fundamental to being respectful.John E. Colby